Sugar Cookies for the Holidays

Here's a little bit of a Christmas throwback for ya: a glimpse into Piper's and my delightful little Christmas cookie decorating party. There is an undeniable, indescribable pleasure about cutting little adorable shapes out of cookie dough. I say, why limit the fun to Christmas? Maybe for Valentine's Day this year friends could get together for a bit of good-natured platonic-love cookie decorating. Add some red wine, An Affair to Remember...What could be better?

If you're in need of a basic, simple sugar cookie recipe, look no further. These cookies are so delicious it's remarkable how simple they are. I highly recommend buying good quality butter, as it's really going to shine in a cookie like this. These would also make lovely tea cookies, unfrosted and undecorated.

Holiday Sugar Cookies (from Bon Appetit)

¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1¼ cups (2½ sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½” pieces
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place racks in lower and upper thirds of oven; preheat to 325°. Whisk salt, baking powder, and 3 cups flour in a small bowl. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and sugar until well combined (butter does not need to be fluffy), about 3 minutes. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla; beat just to combine. Reduce speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients; mix just to combine. Form dough into two ¾”-thick disks; wrap in plastic. Chill at least 2 hours.

Let 1 disk of dough sit at room temperature until softened slightly, about 5 minutes. Roll out on a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper until about ¼” thick, dusting with flour as needed (if dough gets soft or sticky, chill on parchment until firm). Cut out shapes with cookie cutters; transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets.

Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12–16 minutes, depending on size. Transfer to wire racks and let cool. Repeat with scraps and remaining dough.

Decorate cooled cookies as desired.  Here's a link for Royal Icing. The nice thing is that it'll dry and bind after you use it so in the event that some of your cookies crack it'll keep them together. Enjoy!